Comments on: According to the latest ABC News poll…

By: Powers

Powers — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:48:38 +0000

No response from Frank, I see. Big surprise.

By: Winter Wallaby

Winter Wallaby — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:06:59 +0000

Sorry, Lindsey, I didn’t mean to bring up bad images. I just wanted to tell you that I liked your story, and the depiction of sexy, sexy, Taft, stuck in his sexy, sexy bathtub, as Teddy Roosevelt rides up on his horse. Mmmmm. . . Taft. . . Yum.

Whoops, sorry again!

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:00:48 +0000

It’s hard not to be a racist of some sort these days. I treat people of other races with more respect simply because they are of a different race and don’t always get respect from people like me. This means that I’m not particularly careful about treating people of my own race with respect, although it doesn’t bother me much to treat my own people disrespectfully. That’s still racism. I guess I’m also a sexist because I let women go through doorways first. (Actually things work out better if you do that. I got into an Alphonse & Gaston “After you, no after YOU” loop with a woman, until I realized that “she” was actually a clueless cross-dressing man. People, please, if you are going to dress up as something, ACT like whatever it is.)

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:02:56 +0000

Patrick, I see your point and I agree: I’d feel kind of badly for the white candidate, but that would be a valid erason to vote for his opponant.

By: Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)

Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:57:05 +0000

@Winter Wallaby - Erm, thanks! I was hoping not to ever have to picture that again! =P

By: Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^)

Howabominable (aka Lindsey ^_^) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:51:52 +0000

@Docbob: I’m sorry, I totally didn’t mean that all white people are racist. I meant “racist people who are white”. I am white too

By: David

David — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:50:47 +0000

A different survey established that there was a large number of people with racist leanings who were going to vote for Obama. Then I found a source that listed the questions that established a person as having “racist leanings”. Pretty much if you ever had a negative thought about a person, and considered their ethnicity in combination with your negative impression, you were a racist. I agree with the revised, clearer survey questions, and would propose this two-parter.

1) Are you a racist?
2) If yes, does that affect how you vote?

The line I’ve used before, and heard someone else use on the radio recently is that there are so many legitimate reasons to dislike people that ethnicity just never comes into it. It’s also a form of laziness, I try to make an effort to learn something about a person’s behavior or opinions that I can then dislike them for.

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:38:12 +0000

Powers, I’m trying to think of a modern parallel of a boy (or girl) being told by Jesus to organize children into a journey to the Middle East to convert the Muslims to Christianity, but I haven’t seen such a thing in the papers. There was the movie “Marjoe” in the 1970’s about a boy preacher (true story) but Marjoe Gortner did not lead a Crusade. What’s he been up to lately?

Or do both Presidential compaigns look like misorganized children’s crusades each led by a naive deranged kid in over his head?

By: Mark in Boston

Mark in Boston — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:27:57 +0000

I’ve been reading Boswell’s Life of Johnson. Both Boswell and Johnson were conservatives even by the standards of the day. They and their friends have a discussion about how one should treat one’s daughter who has married a man of inferior social standing. The most charitable among them would grudgingly tolerate such a situation; others would cut the daughter off entirely. Boswell expresses the opinion that mankind’s happiness depends on keeping the social classes in their proper places. (N.B. for a woman to marry *above* her station was not nearly so horrible.)

There really was (and perhaps still is in some places) a conviction that some people are inferior to others just by circumstance of birth. “Condescension” was an admirable thing, for instance when a Duke spoke a few kind words to you (taking care not to get too close lest you contaminate him).

To me this goes against everything America stands for. The Declaration of Independence doesn’t feel the need to prove — in fact accepts it as an axiom — that “all men are created equal”. And yet there are people who call themselves Americans who would side with Johnson and Boswell.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:22:46 +0000

OK, we have established that if you don’t agree with Obama that DOES NOT make you a racist.

But back to the original poll. What I do think is says is that most of the white voters who do think race is important (something I don’t actually understand) are in fact racists. Or to put the poll another way, the majority of white people who think race is important are judging Obama less qualified based on his race. That sounds racist to me.

BTW –I agree Bill and everyone else that you voting based on whether someone is black, white, male, female, straight, gay, religous, athiest, tall or short are all stupid reasons to vote for anyone. But I have to admit, the thought of listening to ‘you betcha’ for then next four years sends chills down my spine — but that is not why I am votig for Obama — no really …. you betcha LOL